Harry and Meghan planning to visit Australia in October

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Harry and Meghan planning to visit Australia in October

By David Crowe

The royal family’s new glamour couple, Prince Harry and fiancée Meghan Markle, have prepared the way for their visit to Australia in October by meeting Australian veterans at an event to promote the Invictus Games for wounded personnel.

The couple laughed and joked with some of the veterans – including one who asked Ms Markle for a kiss – after being greeted by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and his wife, Lucy, at Australia House.

Lucy Turnbull, Meghan Markle, Prince Harry and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull at the Invictus Games event at Australia House in London.

Lucy Turnbull, Meghan Markle, Prince Harry and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull at the Invictus Games event at Australia House in London.Credit: AAP

There were also sombre moments, however, as the family of World War One corporal Alistair Ross showed Prince Harry and Ms Markle the bible that their relative wore on his left breast at Gallipoli – and which helped save his life when he was hit by shrapnel.

While Kensington Palace has not confirmed that Ms Markle will accompany the Prince to Australia for the games, Fairfax Media understands they plan to attend together and are considering a visit to the Pacific once the games are over.

Mr Turnbull welcomed the couple by saying they would receive a “rapturous” reception in Australia and inviting them to visit Bondi Beach in his electorate.

Meghan Markle, Lucy Turnbull, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Prince Harry pose with official jackets for the Sydney Invictus Games.

Meghan Markle, Lucy Turnbull, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Prince Harry pose with official jackets for the Sydney Invictus Games.Credit: AAP

Prince Harry did not make any public remarks but spoke at length to dozens of Defence Force personnel from Australia and Britain, including those who want to compete in the games.

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Prince Harry created the Invictus Games four years ago after seeing American programs that helped wounded war veterans by running “adaptive” sports competitions.

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The event, taken from the Latin word for unconquered, has grown into a competition with sports including wheelchair rugby, wheelchair basketball, indoor rowing and para-cycling.

British Army Major Sally Orange, who won bronze in cycling in the Toronto games two years ago and wants to make the team for Sydney, said Prince Harry gave injured and wounded veterans a huge boost by creating the games.

“He’s inspiring in what he’s done in mental health, to get people who don’t have a routine every day to get off the sofa and use sports in their recovery,” she told Fairfax Media after speaking to the couple.

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Nathan Jones, a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force who suffered a back injury while serving in Afghanistan, has competed in past games and believes they help service men and women recover.

“It’s an amazing way to continue your recovery pathway after whatever has happened to you. If you’ve been through some hard times, the way it can pick you back up on such a global stage – there’s nothing really quite like it,” he said.

The oldest veteran, however, was Scotty Teasdale, who served the Royal Air Force during the Berlin Airlift in 1949 and later emigrated to Australia as a Ten Pound Pom to work at the Woomera rocket range.

Mr Teasdale, now a volunteer at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, told Prince Harry he had “made the right choice” with Ms Markle, drawing smiles from them both.

“I said ‘do I get a kiss’?” Mr Teasdale recounted later. “They both took a step back.”

The Sydney games are expected to include teams from Afghanistan, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, Ukraine, United Kingdom and the US.

The couple are to marry on May 19 in a ceremony at Windsor Castle that has fuelled breathless coverage in the British press, including reports that Ms Markle’s half-brother now calls her a “phoney Diana” and is giving the “greatest performance of her life”.

Ms Markle, the star of American TV show Suits, has impressed Australians who have met her over the past week during events on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London.

Prince Harry and Ms Markle met Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and her partner David Panton at a function on Friday, where they were joined by British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson in an informal conversation.

Ms Markle wore a dress by Mayfair fashion label Self-Portrait and a blazer by Alexander McQueen, officials told Fairfax Media the moment she arrived.

The Australian personnel who met the couple included Wing Commander Ruth Elsey, who has served in Afghanistan and Sudan. Personnel from the Australian Army and Royal Australian Navy were also at the event.

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